6 reasons we love open-air photo booths

Wednesday, October 1st, 2014 | By Emily Coates

So you’ve hired a professional photographer to document your special event. Great! After all, no shindig is complete without photos to bring back the memories. As the internet puts it, ‘pics or it didn’t happen!’

But have you considered also getting an open-air photo booth to help you and your guests create some great impromptu mementos? While we’ve been booth-lovers for a while, they’re now easily available to hire through companies like Booth Boy, and are sure to be a hit at your party. Here are a few reasons why.Image: Bear Booth

Reason 1: Who doesn’t love a good selfie?

There’s no shame in being into your look and taking great selfies. A photo booth lets you and your guests do so with a DSLR camera (so the photos are high quality), professional lighting (so the subjects look good), and a touchscreen (so it’s easy to use and people can pose the way they want to).Image: Bear Booth

Reason 2: Extra fun factor

You can’t be in 500 different places at once to see to all your guests. So, let them entertain themselves. Apart from drinking cocktails (mocktails for the kids) and tearing up the dance floor, your guests can spend some time taking pictures with masks, costumes, and other props that come with the booth. These props and the fact that they don’t have to pose for someone else can result in great wacky shots that are as fun to look at as they are to shoot.

Reason 3: Open-air booth = more space for fun

Traditional photo booths can only fit a couple of people, max. Going for the open-air option allows all your mates to take a group shot without feeling like they’re sardines in a can.

Reason 4: Customise the background to suit your event

Whether it’s #Your21stBash, your elegant wedding reception, or your company’s Christmas party, open-air photo booths give you the option of commemorating the event with a custom backdrop. You can choose from a stylish premade option or have one created with solid colours, patterns, textures, and/or logos.
Image: Bear Booth

Reason 5: Printed photos for all!

Official photographers take pride in capturing moments and turning them into works of art. This often involves several hours of editing. You and your guests won’t be able to see their photos of the event until much later. And, you may need to pay for extra copies of the photos if you want to give them away.

Meanwhile, an open-air photo booth will print out photos after each session, so your guests will instantly get a copy of the photos to keep. Many photo booth companies will also upload photos from the event online so that your guests can download copies for themselves and share them on social media.
Image: Bear Booth

Reason 6: All the fun, sans the setup

A traditional closed photo booth will take up a chunk of your venue’s indoor space. But open-air ones can be set up anywhere that a really long extension cord can reach. Plus, they come with an assistant who will do all the grunt work for you. They’ll set up the equipment, keep it running smoothly, and pack everything away at the end. You won’t have to worry about anything other than having fun (and taking a few photos in the booth yourself, obviously!).

So when your next event rolls around, replace those smartphone selfies with smart party pics! And if you’ve already tried an open-air photo booth, why not share your experience with other readers in the comments below?
Image: Butterfly Bones Photography